It is inevitable that the use of fossil fuels is the higher this decade has brought some pretty bad effects of the global environment, such as global warming.

The use of fossil fuels such as oil and other processed products, natural gas, and coal is largely composed of hydrocarbons (a group of chemical compounds consisting of the elements carbon and hydrogen) to produce carbon dioxide pollution is increasingly out of control. Carbon dioxide gas is a major contributor to greenhouse gases that cause global warming on this earth. In addition to adverse impacts due to carbon dioxide pollution, fossil fuel energy sources that can not be updated and will soon be exhausted in the near future.

To answer that challenge, S. Tajammul Hussain and M. Hasib-ur-Rahman, two researchers from the Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan has managed to find a formula nanokatalis capable of converting carbon dioxide and water vapor into hydrocarbon compounds, namely ethanol and propuna. As the results of their study, published in Journal of Nano Systems & Technology, the two researchers have succeeded in converting a gas mixture of carbon dioxide and water vapor to methanol and propuna using nanokatalis from alloy metal ruthenium (Ru), manganese (Mn), and nickel (Ni) which dialiasikan into the catalyst supporting titanium (IV) oxide. Understanding nanokatalis itself is a chemical substance capable of facilitating the reaction without reacting to participate billionth of meter size, a size very small.

Recent discovery is quite phenomenal considering scientists worldwide seeking an alternative method to synthesize long-chain hydrocarbons from the source of short-or single-chain hydrocarbons such as carbon dioxide. Synthesis of this conversion is not economical because it can be said to achieve the highest conversion percentage at 450 ° C with the results of 36% ethanol and 41% propuna. The mechanism of this conversion was quite complicated because of all metal species in nanokatalis has its own role in this conversion reaction.

The conversion result obtained is not a long-chain hydrocarbons such as those found in gasoline, but this research represents a good first step to finding new methods to change the pollution of carbon dioxide into hydrocarbon energy sources. Although these results somewhat less economical to be projected on a large scale, but it is expected that subsequent studies can be applied globally to answer the following two major challenges: reducing the amount of pollutant carbon dioxide for global warming impact is reduced and the main energy source to synthesize human again today , namely hydrocarbons.